Method of riveting sheets of metal



(No Model,) 4

J. P. GOULD.

METHOD OF RIVETING SHEETS OE METAL.

Patented AprQ 'Y, 1885.

4w w m U n% NW N UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSHUA PRINCE GOULD, OF BANGOR, MAINE.

.METHOD OF RIVETING SHEETS OF METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 315,020, dated April '7, 1885. Application filed July 21, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSHUA P. GOULD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bangor, in the county of Penobscot and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Method of Riveting Sheets of Metal; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to animproved' method of preparation of thin sheets of metal for being riveted together and to an improved method of riveting the same together. It has a special application to metal roofing, but may be profitably used in many other situations.

I accomplish the object of my invention by taking any desirable number of sheets of thin metal in the shop and punching the proper number of holes in each sheet. I then insert rivets in the holes and turn the edges of the sheets underneath, so as wholly or partially to cover the heads of the rivets and hold them in place until the metal can be transported to the roof or place where it is to be applied and fitted, as shown in the accompanying drawings and specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an isometrical view of the platen, with the rivets inserted all the way around it, the edges p 12 being turned under, and the overlapping sheet having .part of the rivets driven through it, the dotted line q showing where the edge of the sheet 0 will match onto the sheet a when driven fully down. The thin strip of iron Z Z is shown passed underneath the rivets. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the sheets a and o properly riveted together at m, and showing the rivet inserted at m, and the edge p turned under, and the strip of iron Z in place for heading down the rivet when the overlapping sheet shall be driven on over the rivet.

Same letters show like parts throughout the two figures.

C C are thin sheets of metal. is is a sectional View of the end of a pin or soft-wood stick split across the center of the rivet, showing how the rivet-holes are made in the overlap ping sheet 0. Z is apiece of thin iron used to pass under the row of rivets while the rivets are forced through the sheet 0 and headed down. at m are rivets inserted in the under 1 sheet of metahn. a is the underneath sheet carrying the rivets. an m are rivets. o is the top or upper sheet, overlapping and riveted down onto the sheet n. p p are the turnedover edges of the sheet a. q is a dotted line showing where the edge of the sheet 0 will rest when the rivets are all driven through and headed down. r r are strips fittingwnto the rivets between the sheets and by means of which the covering 0 O is held in place when applied to a roof. 8 s are apertures through r 7', through which nails may be driven into a roof. t t are the angular corners snipped off.

My method of preparation of the sheets of metal for being riveted together is as follows: I perforate in the edge or edges of the sheet a a proper number of holes'for the rivets m m. I then snip off the angular corners of the sheet sufficiently to allow of turning down the edges, and after inserting rivets m m in the holes with the heads of the rivets on the underneath side of the sheet I turn, fold, or bend the edges p p of the sheet a far enough. back wholly or partially to cover the heads of the rivets, to hold them in place while the sheet is being transported to the roof or place where it is to be applied;.or, instead of snipping offthe corners of the sheet and folding the edges back upon the heads of the rivets, the rivets may he lightly soldered to the sheet after being inserted through the holes, the object being to prepare the sheet a with the rivets secured in place in the shop in such a manner as to bear transportation to the place where it is to be used, keeping the rivets exactly in position to receive the overlapping sheet.

Other means of securing the rivets in place are, of course, possible, and I do not limit myself to either of the means described; but the rivets may be secured in place in any suitable or convenient manner.

The rivet-bearing sheet it having been transported to the place where it is to be used, is placed in any desirable position, and the overlapping sheet 0 is placed with the edge sufficiently overlapping the rivet-bearing sheet a and resting upon the projecting ends of the rivets. When properly placed in position, a thin strip, Z, of iron is passed under the line of rivets, and it is only necessary to take a short stick of pine or other soft wood and, following along on the line of the rivets, drive the perforates a hole for itself in exactlythe right stick endwise down onto the overlapping sheet 0 at a point directly above a rivet, when the rivet perforates the sheet 0, passing into the stick, and the sheet 0 is driven down close and tight upon the sheet n, and the rivet is then headed down. By this means each rivet place in the sheet 0, so that each overlapping sheet lies fiat, square, and evenly upon the sheet underneath it, and there is no unequal strain upon any part of any sheet, and consequently all bulging and rising or wrinkling is avoided, and the whole riveted-together covering hugs closely and. smoothly to the surface to which it is applied. When this pro-' cess is applied to metal roofing, only the alternate edges of the sheets are fitted with rivets at the shop. The advantages of my method are perhaps most apparent when it is applied to metal roofing. It is almost impossible to punch two sheets of metal at the shop so that the rivet-holes will precisely match and agree when laid upon the roof, and every one which does not agree with and match anothercauses more or less twist and unequal strain, resulting in bulging, wrinkling, and rising of the whole body of the metal covering. There is, moreover, a very great saving of time by this method of riveting. The rivet-heads maybe slightly soldered to insure the covering being perfectly tight. The sheets may be secured to a roof by strips of metal r r, perforated and hung to the rivets between the sheets, and pierced with the holes 8 8, larger than the nails to be used, and the strips being pivotal upon the rivets allows sufficient compensation sufficiently to hold the rivets in place while being transported.

2. The method of riveting together thin sheets of metal, consisting of preparing a thin sheet, n, of metal for being riveted to another byperfor'ating one or more of its edges with rivet-holes, supplying the rivet -holes with rivets, and securing the rivets in position in the rivet-holes in any suitable or convenient manner, placing a second sheet of metal, 0, so that one of its edges shall overlap the rivets on one edge of the sheet n, and forcing the rivets through the overlapping sheet 0 by the impact under the hammer of a piece of soft wood or any suitable penetrable material placed on the sheet'o and over the rivet to be forced through said sheet, a thin piece of iron being slipped under the joints to support the rivets while being forced through the overlapping sheet 0 and headed down, all as shown and described, and substantially as and for the purpose specified.

JOSHUA PRINCE GOULD.

. \Vitnesses:

W. H. HARLOW, CHAS. H. RICE. 

